The PhD programme is essentially by supervised research. The programme also involves the following:
- The student shall be required to take and pass all the compulsory courses (9 units per semester, seminar courses inclusive) and two electives (3 units per semester). Total units = 24 units
- The candidate has to write, submit and defend a PhD dissertation proposal. On approval of this proposal, the candidate shall proceed to conclude, submit and internally defend the work, before the final external defence.
AVAILABLE COURSES
FIRST SEMESTER
LIN 731 Advanced Phonology 3 Credits (Compulsory)
This course involves an in-depth study of selected problems of theoretical interest e.g. redundancy rules, rule ordering, abstractness, binary versus multi-valued features, linear versus non-linear representation, lexical versus post lexical rule application, etc.
LIN 78: Issues in Applied Linguistics 3 Credits (Compulsory)
This course examines the application of linguistics in solving language related problems in other domains, development of applied linguistics, language education; assessment and evaluation, language and communication; translation, lexicography etc. Since applied linguistics is a multidisciplinary field and the common element is ‘language’, the course will explicate and demonstrate the breadth of applied linguistics and the depth of knowledge required of one who aspires to practice this discipline.
LIN 783 Doctoral Seminar I 3 Credits (Compulsory)
This is the first seminar course. The course is intended to examine the ability of the students in the presentation of scholarly papers before an academic audience. Each candidate is required to choose a topic of his/her choice, duly approved by the Departmental PG board.
LIN 771 Advanced Dialectology 3 Credits (Elective)
This course is a study of the theory of dialectal variations and the practical application of the theory in the description of the spread of indigenous languages. This study includes advanced methods used in dialectology such as mutual intelligibility test, lexicostatistics, etc. A greater percentage of this course will be devoted to case study of particular language varieties. The student must undertake a dialectological survey of chosen dialect varieties as part of the course requirements.
LIN 773 Topics in Sociolinguistics 3 Credits (Elective)
Different approaches to language study; language variation, change and death; language loyalty and mutual intelligibility; lects and dialects; slang expressions, cants, jargons and registers; pidgins and creoles; language attitudes; bilingual and multilingual situations; functions of language; diglossia; code-switching; language planning; and micro-sociolinguistic method.
LIN 741: Studies in Lexicography 3 Credits (Elective)
This is a course in dictionary making and metalexicography. It is divided into two parts. The first part involves the study and presentation of specific texts on different metalexicographic issues involving dictionary structure, corpus use in dictionary production, word sense and polysemy in dictionary articles, collocations and idioms, definitions and examples, bilingual polysemy in dictionary articles, definitions and examples, bilingual dictionaries, semantic networks and dictionary use. Above all, emphasis shall be laid on metalexicographic issues in dictionary typology. The second part involves the practical design and implementation of a dictionary project by each student.
SECOND SEMESTER
LIN 722 Advanced Grammar 3 Credits (Compulsory)
A more detailed treatment of topics of relevance such as nominalization, relativisation, complementation, serialization, transitivity, causativity, functional categories such as tense, aspect, mood, negation, determiner. These topics will be examined from different theoretical perspectives.
LIN 742 Advanced Semantics 3 Credits (Compulsory)
Advanced semantics focuses on the study of meaning from the general functional perspective. Thus unlike linguistic semantics, it takes into account the full complexity of the cognitive, social and cultural functioning of language.
- Philosophical aspects of meaning in language: illocutionary acts, appropriateness and felicity/happiness conditions, speech acts, truth values, truth conditions, presupposition, entailment and focus.
- Performatives and the problems surrounding performative analysis; pragmatics and the justification for this approach to the study of meaning.
LIN 784 Doctoral Seminar II 3 Credits (Compulsory)
This is the second seminar course. The course is intended to examine the ability of the students in the presentation of scholarly papers before an academic audience. Each candidate is required to choose a topic of his/her choice, duly approved by the Departmental PG board.
LIN 782 Language and Information Technology 3 Credits (Elective)
Computer language versus human language; the growth and development of different patterns of language in ICT: Text language (SMS language versus online chat language); deictic schema of language use in ICT; contribution of ICT to language study and related matters: experimental phonetics, lexicography, language documentation and machine translation.
LIN 724: Current Advances in Linguistic Theory 3 Credits (Elective)
The aim of the course is to give the student an overview of the current developments in linguistic theorizing. This would involve from time to time a contrast with the past so as to appreciate how the present constitutes an advancement. Specific texts that deal with various issues in current linguistic theory shall be discussed at each sitting. At the end of the course, each student should write a seminar paper in which he/she is able to situate one particular theme which he/she could trace and make explicit in the recent linguistic theorizing.
LIN 784 Doctoral dissertation 9 Credits (Compulsory)
This entails the writing of a dissertation by the doctoral degree candidate at the end of the first or second year after all the course work. The student has to write, submit and defend a PhD dissertation proposal. On approval of this dissertation proposal, the candidate shall proceed to conclude, submit and internally defend the work, before the final external defence.